


Asks and miscellaneous

by rinstop



Series: Head!canons [3]
Category: Free!
Genre: Headcanon, M/M, Meta, Metafiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 07:18:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17018196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinstop/pseuds/rinstop
Summary: Other head!canons of Rin in various relationships





	1. RinSou: The Sleeping Sousuke

Head!canon that Rin has a whole album on his laptop of Sousuke sleeping in various places, in various situations and on various things and he takes it everywhere he goes. 

Like, Sousuke loves to sleep and he’s the sort of person that can fall asleep anytime, anywhere within moments. Whenever they have a bit of time to spare, or they’re on a train/plane/car/bus/whatever, he closes his eyes and he’s out like a light - he’s fallen asleep in some truly ridiculous situations before. 

And Rin is constantly amazed at his ability to fall asleep so quickly and in any situation. He takes pictures, at first as a joke - he tells Sousuke he’s going to document his sleep-capades and maybe embarrass him while he’s at it by catching him drooling or something. But Sousuke actually looks pretty cute when he’s sleeping and it’s just a habit that Rin has now - snap a quick picture when Sousuke’s sleeping and then wake him up if he’s not supposed to be, so he doesn't get in trouble. 


	2. RinSou

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> clarastimevortex:
> 
> whatever you do don’t imagine one half of your otp reading while the other one dozes on their shoulder all tangled up in the bedsheets don’t do it please

Shit.

I’m totally thinking of Rin and Sousuke. Like Rin waking up early on his rest day because he’s used to it, but it’s his rest day so he’s not going to go to the pool or out for a run. He can’t go back to sleep - he’s the sort that once he’s awake, he’s awake - and he doesn’t want to leave Sousuke and their nice, warm bed. So he just sits up in bed and grabs the book from the bedside table and Sousuke wakes up at some point too because he feels Rin shifting and sees him, so he gets up for a kiss and then settles down on his shoulder and dozes off again. Rin just puts one arm around him and carries on reading and the world is peaceful - warm sunlight through the window, bridsong, the occasional rustle of a turning page and the soft puff of Sousuke’s breath on his shoulder.


	3. Relationship dynamics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon asked: Of all of Rin's partners (nagisa, rei, mako, etc) are there any things you think he would get annoyed with about any of them after a while!

Hmm, that’s an interesting question! All relationships take work and I do think they all have certain personality traits that would be a little difficult, but then again those traits don’t exist in isolation and would be balanced by other things. And, I mean, I think the person Rin clashes with the most is Haru - since they’re configured as Blue Oni and Red Oni and as a deliberate function of the narrative - but they’re still really good friends, so the annoyance would be vastly outweighed by everything else. 

So, what would cause trouble in a relationship? Let’s see….

With Makoto, I feel it would be the way they each communicate discontent - or rather the fact that Makoto doesn’t? Makoto tends to only say something if he feels someone else is being troubled - and even then in the most uncontentious way possible in order to find a compromise - and not say anything if he feels like he’s the only one who would be troubled. Whereas Rin tends to be very straightforward about voicing his opinions - if he has a problem with you, he shows it. So I feel like, if those traits were taken by themselves, Rin would find that very frustrating, but I also kind of feel like being around Rin a lot would make Makoto more frank, at least with him. And Rin is different around Makoto than he is with others, like what would be his anger response with anyone else gets muted - probably because being angry at Makoto would be like kicking a puppy, let’s face it - so I kind of feel like it would balance out after a while instead, but could be an issue at the start. If that makes sense?

With Sousuke, I think it’s an issues of opposing outlooks we’re kind of given in canon. Rin tends to have a pretty romantic way of looking at things - they’re not rose-tinted glasses, because he’s not that naive - but he’s an idealist and given to thinking about the way he feels things  _should_  be. Sousuke, on the other hand, is a realist - about the way things  _are_. It doesn’t stop them understanding each other, but I think they can sometimes find it difficult to reconcile that within themselves. They’re not that bothered with disagreeing with each other, though, and they have a lot more similarities than differences. 

Rei is a creature of logic and Rin gets that - it’s why he was able to help Rei swim when no one else could - but Rei also has a tendency to over-think things and complicate things for himself that way. And it’s bit of a difference in modus operandi that might make it difficult to keep up with each other. I have a head!canon about the way they would fight [here](http://rinistop.tumblr.com/post/138245298043/rinrei-19#notes) and I think they’d be able to rile each other up properly if they wanted. 

As for Nagisa - that’s hard to say, because he got much less of a character arc than the others so I feel like he’s a harder read. Nagisa is a really intuitive person with a lot of emotional intelligence and a sensitivity that can make even Makoto open up about what’s troubling him. He’s also really sensible, but most of the time he chooses not to be - because it’s more fun that way. And I think that flippancy of his can be sometimes be as baffling as it is refreshing if you’re caught up in something the way Rin can be.

Yikes, that got long! And I kind of feel like I’ve answered a different question than the one you asked. 


	4. RinSou and HaruMako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon said: Well, Rin does say (I am not sure if in the flashback in the anime he does too, but I know he does in High Speed!) that he and Sousuke are painfully similar: "We understand each other too well. [...] Sometimes, it becomes difficult to be together… When I end up understanding his feelings, I end up not being able to say the things that I want to. I can no longer seriously go up against him. That’s not a friend, it’s like an alter-ego, isn’t it? "

Yeah, that’s true! Thanks, I never manage to remember that quote properly. And actually, what you and leninmeringuepie said gives me some thoughts about communication between the two pairs?

With harumako being different people who complement each other - I think it’s kind of that they’ll do similar things but probably for different reasons? Like they’re both quite non-confrontational, but with Haru it’s largely because he can’t be bothered (let’s face it, he’s kind of lazy and it would take too much effort, lol), and with Makoto it’s that he’s constantly prioritising others over himself. In their relationship, there’s a lot that’s unspoken and just meant to be understood rather than explicitly communicated. They’re in each other’s heads, constantly guessing and anticipating each other’s needs in order to take the path of least resistance, which is what makes their relationship look so easy. And I think that’s the reason that they don’t fight often, but when they do fight, it’s big. The subtlety is gone, everything is laid bare, there’s fireworks and heartbreak.

Contrast Rin and Sousuke who are both very outspoken and straightforward with their feelings. They’re constantly communicating and antagonising and pushing at each other. They  _could_  be in each other’s heads in the way Makoto and Haru are, but they don’t actually like to be. (Like the quote you mentioned, Rin feels like that makes them stop being friends and instead become alter egos? And I think it’s kind of because they both value their independence too much to want someone in their heads and can’t completely embrace it the way Haru and Makoto have.) So they’re constantly speaking their minds and they can be a little careless with it, but that’s the reason why, even if they fight often, it doesn’t matter as much. It’s loads of small explosions, spread out. They get past it quickly and don’t dwell too much on it after - it’s’ done and gone.

Does that make sense? I hope none of this seems like I’m bashing or anything, because I really like both relationships and all of the characters and I find it really interesting to think about these things. ^_^;


	5. RinMako: Book club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon said: Makoto really likes reading fictions and poetry and Rin likes more realistic types of books (especially Self-Help types) and they send books to each other overseas. They also write little notes about what their favourite parts were in the margins so when they re-read them they get little surprises.

Oooh, I actually have a similar head!canon - I think it’s buried in my tag somewhere, but I love the idea of them having their own little private book club. I think they’d be into different genres even with fiction, but I love the idea of them leaving notes for each other in the margins. 

Rin is normally very neat and tidy with his books, but all the ones he shares with Makoto are dog-eared and scribbled on, the corners folded down at their favourite parts and passages highlighted at quotes they particularly wanted to share with each other - “this made me think of you”. He likes pulp novels, hard-boiled fiction and noir, cheesy romance mixed with the suspense of a thriller, a mystery he unravels alongside the detective protagonist - he gets a thrill from trying to figure it out before the characters and diagrams his suspicions in the margins enthusiastically. 

Makoto laughs when he reads them - added commentary like Terry Pratchett footnotes - and imagines Rin’s face following the characters avidly through each page. Rin sends him pictures of motivational quotes and it is one way Makoto has learned to read to read him, his moods - being able to tell by the sentence whether Rin was feeling philosophical or in need of a boost, or particularly silly or flirtatious. And even though it takes weeks for the books to reach each other, a consequence of the time and space separating them (and of using snail mail and hard copies in the age of the internet), it feels like they can travel back in time and be there reading the same words at the same time.

Ahaha, I kind of carried away with this one, sorry!


	6. RinMako: Study Sessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon said: rin writes love notes to makoto in english (which he has to translate) to help him learn the language better :)

OMG, that is so cute! Now I’m just imagining their study sessions, and Makoto concentrating really hard at translating the notes - “wait, how do you conjugate this?” - and reading the note out really proudly when he does it, without completely realising what it says at first. And then slowly turning red, blushing to the tips of his ears, repeating it. Rin would just laugh at him and Makoto would whine at his teasing - “Riiiiiin!” - it’s just! So cute! 

Aaaaah, head!canon accepted, Anon! This is too adorable!


	7. RinRei: Dumbasses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> otpprompts:
> 
> Pick an OTP. Which person is standing outside the Starbucks amusedly watching, and which one is crying because they’ve been up for the past 36 hours and just dropped their coffee on the ground

Lol, I feel like this works best with RinRei. Rei crying and looking at his coffee, looking absolutely frazzled and sleep deprived because it finals week has just finished at uni - we know Rei takes his studying seriously. And Rin laughing at Rei’s shitty luck but also telling him he’ll buy another one, just patting him on the back like ‘there, there’. I’m cracking myself up thinking about it.

 

[missblackstar1678](http://missblackstar1678.tumblr.com/post/119494569853):

> yes yes good 
> 
> BUT
> 
> who in your otp waits at the airport for the other while holding a huge, bedazzled poster 
> 
> emblazoned with the word  **NERD**

RINREI!! Omg, but I can totally see Rin holding the sign waiting for Rei when he visits him in Oz. Rei would be deeply offended, of course, but a traitorous part of him would actually really appreciate Rin’s work on the bedazzling, lol. Because Rin is the sort of nerd who would lay it out super neatly and beautifully. He never does anything by halves, ok? They’re the ultimate nerd couple.


	8. Cinnamon Rolls

(Honestly, all the boys are cinnamon rolls in their own way, and I know this meme has been done before by loads of others, but I wanted to try it too ^_^)

  * **Looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you:** Haru
  * **Looks like a cinnamon roll and is a cinnamon roll:** Makoto
  * **Looks like he could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll:** Sousuke
  * **Looks like he could kill you and would actually kill you:** Rin
  * **Would kill you by feeding you cinnamon rolls (sinamon roll):** Nagisa
  * **Chelsea bun:** Rei




End file.
